More Topics...

HIPAA—Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The Federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), requires confidentiality of medical records and other individually identifiable health information. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) publication, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health Care System for the 21st Century, states that health care must be patient-centered and sets forth several "rules to redesign and improve care," including "shared knowledge and the free flow of information." Can health providers comply with HIPAA while following the IOM recommendations? How can hospitals and health care organizations strike a balance between engaging patients and families in planning care and decision-making-which requires the sharing of information to assure safety and quality of care-while safeguarding patient confidentiality? The free download HIPAA-Providing New Opportunities for Collaboration addresses these questions and more.

HIPAA-Providing New Opportunities for Collaboration

This article is one of many included in the issue of Advances in Family-Centered Care linked below. The entire issue, Responding to HIPAA: Hospitals Confront New Challenges, Devise Creative Solutions, may be purchased from the Institute's website at:

Responding to HIPAA: Hospitals Confront New Challenges, Devise Creative Solutions